Multinode Real-Time Scheduling for Stable Networked Control of a Quanser 3DOF Hover Platform
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15837/ijccc.2026.4.7527Keywords:
Networked control systems, Distributed real-time control, Jitter compensation, Multinode scheduling, Time-delay systemsAbstract
This work presents an experimental evaluation of distributed real-time control architectures applied to a Quanser 3DOF Hover platform. Multinode configurations comprising 3 and 9 computing nodes communicating via TCP/IP are reviewed, with control models executed in MATLAB/ Simulink within an interconnected data environment. For each configuration, sensing, control, and actuation modules were deployed on distinct nodes to assess the influence of communicationinduced delay and jitter on closed-loop stability. The main contribution consists of the modelling of time-delay models based on a scheduling-oriented approximation, together with the synthesis of a control law that explicitly incorporates the boundary conditions imposed by the scheduling policy. The study introduces the integration of a multinode scheduler, implemented as an additional node, which temporally orchestrates the critical events of the control loop. The scheduler is designed according to its dynamic configuration, with the specific objective of coupling the control law to the delays introduced by the scheduling mechanism. The manuscript provides both a conceptual analysis and a detailed design of the scheduler and its associated control law. Experimental results demonstrate that the platform remains stable with up to nine nodes when the scheduling mechanism is employed, whereas, in architectures lacking explicit temporal coordination, oscillatory behaviour associated with jitter and desynchronisation is observed.
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